The Missing Years
by onetreehillforeverandalways
Summary: Welcome to the college years for Nathan and Haley. Follow them as they struggle to get through college, raise their son and keep their relationship afloat all in the four years that we never got to see.
1. Chapter 1: Basketball Tournament

**A/N: You know, I was really sad when they skipped right from high school till after college. We missed out on a lot of Nathan, Haley and Jamie goodness. However, that just means that I get to write these special moments and that's all right with me. So welcome to Naley: The College Years! I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I love writing it.**

Haley was exhausted. She could feel her eyes closing, but she jerked herself awake. It had to be at least three in the morning. She had a class at eight am, and she also had a twelve-page essay due for that class, which she wasn't even halfway finished.

To top it off, she had an inconsolable screaming baby on her lap.

She looked her three-month-old son right in his tear filled eyes and sighed heavily. "Come on baby, tell mommy what's wrong." She cooed as she wiped the tears off of his chubby cheeks. Jamie wrapped his little hand around her finger and whimpered some more.

She could feel her frustration building. Nathan and Lucas had left earlier that evening for their first basketball tournament and for the first night since Jamie was born, she was left completely alone to deal with him and college at the same time. Balancing both without any help seemed to be proving impossible and Haley considered calling Deb, who was coming over to watch Jamie while she was in class in the morning, for just a split second.

Instead, she got up from her desk, cradling her son's head against her shoulder. Clearly, English was going to have to wait.

After warming up a bottle, she sat down in the rocking chair in the corner of Jamie's room and brushed the soft wisps of hair on top of his head. "You know, it's okay to miss your daddy. I know I miss him." She said softly. "But we're both going to have to get used to it. Daddy is going to have to go away sometimes."

The more she talked, the more Jamie quieted down, so Haley kept on whispering quietly to him until she was finally able to get a bottle in his mouth. After he gulped down about half of it, his eyes started to close. Haley smiled to herself as she lifted him up to her shoulder. "Food puts you right to sleep. Just like your dad." She couldn't help but sigh in relief as she laid him down in his crib that he was fast asleep.

After checking to make sure the monitor was on, she shut the door gently and sat back down at her desk, checking the clock. 3:56am. Haley looked at her computer with droopy eyes and shook herself awake. "Three and a half hours to finish this." She mumbled.

* * *

Haley was jolted awake by the sound of her telephone ringing beside her ear. She groaned, flipping it open. "Hello?"

"Haley? Where are you? I've been knocking for twenty minutes." Deb said on the other line. Haley shot up and flung the door open. Her mother-in-law gave her a small smile. "Well you look like hell."

"Gee thanks." Haley mumbled sarcastically, stretching her sore neck. She walked into the bathroom to wash her face, when she heard Jamie start to cry. She froze for a moment until he stopped and she sighed tiredly. "Thank God for Deb." She muttered as she splashed water over her tired looking face.

By 7:45, Haley was throwing on her shoes and grabbing her car keys. Normally she walked, but it took her about fifteen minutes and she really didn't want to be late for class. Jamie, who was lying on his stomach on the floor, cried in distress and reached out for her.

Already running late, she settled for blowing him a kiss and rushing out the door. She could hear his screams from outside and she sat in the car for a minute, composing herself as her heart broke. Once she was sure she wasn't going to cry, she took off.

She made it to class with five minutes to spare, taking a seat next to a girl with long brown hair. They smiled at each other and she said, "You look exhausted. Last minute essay?"

Haley gave a tired laugh back. "My son kept me up all night."

The girl raised her eyebrows. "You have a son?" She sort of blurted out and then covered her mouth. "I'm sorry that was rude."

It wasn't like it was anything new to Haley, so she just shrugged. "It's okay, my husband and I get that a lot. I have a three-month-old son named Jamie."

Her eyes lit up with recognition. "Are you Nathan Scott's wife?" When Haley nodded, she continued. "I'm Aubrey, I'm a cheerleader for the basketball team. Nathan was showing us pictures of his son at practice the other day. He is so cute."

Aubrey then turned towards the front of the class without another word and Haley almost rolled her eyes. Her innuendo that she was talking about both Nathan and Jamie was not missed. However, Haley chose to ignore it. One of the things she didn't have time for in her life was petty drama.

After a brutal two-hour lecture, Haley made her way across campus to stop and get breakfast before her next class, because she hadn't gotten the chance to eat that morning. She quickly grabbed a bagel and a coffee to keep her awake, and she sat down on one of the picnic benches.

While she ate, she glanced at her phone wistfully. She knew Nathan had an early morning practice, but she was dying for him to text her just to ask how she was doing. Just in case, she sent him a text saying that she missed him, and when he didn't reply after ten minutes, she bit her lip and tried not to cry.

She was probably just emotional because she was tired, but she really missed him.

For the second time that morning, she pulled herself together and made her way to her three-hour lecture. Thankfully it was her last class of the day, and then she could go home and be with Jamie. Haley was dying for sleep, but she knew that when she got home around two, he would just be waking up from his nap and there was no way he was going to let her sleep.

As she was making her way across the parking lot to head home, her phone rang. "Nathan?" She asked, sounding a little to eager.

"Hey Hales, it's me." He said. Haley slammed her car door shut and ran her hand through her hair, unable to formulate a response. "You there baby?"

She sniffled hard, all her tears coming out. "Yeah I'm here, sorry." She choked through her tears. "I miss you so much."

"I've only been gone for a day." He joked, and when she didn't say anything, he sighed. "I'm just joking Hales. I miss you and the boy too. Was he good for you last night?"

Haley couldn't help but laugh. "He was up crying until four. I think he missed his daddy."

"I wish I could have been there for him and you. But you got your paper done right?"

"Yeah I did, with just enough time to spare to get to my morning class. I'm exhausted and ready to fall asleep on my feet. I should probably get home so I don't end up falling asleep at the wheel. I'll talk to you tonight?"

"Yeah, the hotel has wifi so I'll video chat you later. Love you Hales."

She smiled. "Love you too, bye."

When she got home, she opened the door quietly to find Deb reading on the couch. "He's still sleeping, poor baby. It took me forever to get him to go to sleep. He's really messed up."

"He loves routine. Usually Nathan puts him to bed on Thursdays, and Lucas puts him down for his nap on Fridays. Last week, my Friday afternoon class got cancelled and I was here to put him to sleep but he refused to sleep for me."

"Well at least we know he's definitely your son then." Deb joked as she was walking out the door. "Bye Haley."

Haley looked at her homework, over to the couch and back to her homework. She knew she should do homework but she was just so… tired. Before she could change her mind, she kicked off her shoes, stretched across the couch and closed her eyes. She was asleep in seconds.

Haley wasn't sure what time it was when Jamie started crying through the monitor; all she knew was that she wanted to sleep until morning. "Only two more days," she mumbled to herself tiredly, as she shuffled into his room. The miserable look on his face brightened when he saw his mother, and his tiny hands stretched as far as they could go towards her. "Hi baby," She cooed, lifting him and cradling him against her chest. "Mommy missed you so much."

She changed his diaper and quickly shuffled into the kitchen when she realized it was almost five thirty. She popped a bottle into the microwave for Jamie, and she started shuffling through the fridge for something quick to eat. "Hmm… Pizza pockets." Her stomach growled at the thought of it, since she hadn't eaten since ten thirty.

When the microwave beeped, she let it cool down for a bit while Jamie stared up at her, happily tugging on her long locks. She grabbed the bottle and put it in his mouth, where he happily started sucking. Haley, the expert at doing things with one hand, quickly popped her pizza pockets into the microwave and sat down in one of the kitchen chairs, watching her son eat.

After he had finished his entire bottle, she burped him and then grabbed her food from the microwave. "Come on Jimmy Jam, lets go play in the living room." She laid him down on his blanket while she sat next to him, eating her food and doing her readings for Monday's classes.

As hard as she tried, she couldn't seem to focus on her reading. She was too busy watching her son in awe as he lifted his head up, looked around and laughed to himself. Had it really been three months since she had given birth to him? She couldn't believe how fast the time was flying.

Jamie noticed her gazing at him and he tilted his head up and gave a big laugh. Haley, unable to control herself, scooped him into her lap and kissed his face. "Guess what time it is Jamie? Huh? Guess what time?" She cooed. "It's bath time for mommy and Jamie."

She ran the bath for the two of them with lukewarm water and climbed in. Of course Jamie was immediately distracted by the little yellow duck floating in the water, so he didn't even fuss when Haley rinsed his hair.

After they were all cleaned and in their pajamas, Haley sat down at the computer and checked the clock. It was just about seven and she was right on schedule. As she expected, her video chat came up and she clicked the answer button, propping Jamie up on her lap.

As soon as her husband came on the screen, Haley broke into a smile. She looked down at her son, who was staring at the screen with wide eyes. "Look baby, is that daddy?"

"Hi Jamie," Nathan cooed over the screen. "Hi baby. Can you smile for daddy? Come on, smile for daddy!"

Luke walked over and slapped the back of his head. "You sound ridiculous."

Nathan glared at him. "That's my kid okay? I miss him." He turned back to the screen and waved. "Jamie!"

Jamie, who had been staring at the screen the entire time, finally broke into his toothless grin and reached his arms out towards the screen. When he realized that Nathan wasn't going to pick him up, his lower lip trembled and his face scrunched up before he broke into a full on wail.

Haley sighed, bouncing him on her knee to try and shush him. "He's been like this since you guys left." She said tiredly, shushing him. "It's okay baby, it's okay."

Nathan couldn't shake the heavy feeling in his heart as he saw how distressed his son was and the tired look in his wife's eyes. "Are you going to be okay, Hales? Do you need me to come home?"

She shook her head sadly. "Your team needs you Nathan. Jamie and I will hold down the fort here. Right Jimmy Jam?" She cooed at the cranky boy in her lap. "I'm going to grab him a bottle okay? I'll be right back."

Nathan watched her walk away and then he put his head in his hands, guilt overwhelming him. "Nate, everything is going to be okay. You'll be home in just a couple of days." Luke said, putting his hand on his shoulder.

"I hate seeing my son cry like that and not be able to do anything." He muttered miserably. He looked up as Haley sat back down, a quiet Jamie sucking his bottle happily. "Hey, Hales."

"Hey," She said quietly, smiling at her husband before looking down at her son again. "I hope he sleeps tonight, I'm exhausted." She stroked a finger over her son's face.

"I feel bad. We had such a good routine going on before I messed it up."

"It's not just you. Deb said that Jamie put up a huge fight when she tried to put him down for his nap today. Apparently little Jimmy Jam misses his Uncle Luke too, don't you baby?" She smiled at her husband. "I miss you too, you know. Just in case you didn't realize."

"I miss you too, Hales. I can't wait to come home." Nathan said softly as he glanced at his son. "I think you've got a worn out little man on your hands." Jamie had fallen asleep, milk dripping down his lower lip.

Haley tickled him under his chin so that his little eyes peered open tiredly and he whimpered a bit. "Wake up kid, I have to burp you. I don't want you choking on your own vomit in your sleep." After successfully burping him, he fell back into his slumber with his little fist closed around her finger. "Hey I'm going to go put him down and probably do some housework before bed. I'll talk to you tomorrow?"

"Sure Hales, get some sleep. I love you."

"Love you too Nathan." She replied. "And you too Luke!"

Lucas rolled his eyes from the bed where he was watching sports. "Sure, sure."

She shut down the computer and slowly made her way into Jamie's room, gently laying him down in the crib. As he started to stir, she rubbed his belly in circles and it only took a minute before he dozed back off.

Haley walked into her room, glancing at the clock. It was only eight and she was exhausted. She really needed to get some cleaning done. Unconsciously, she lay down on the bed. "I'll just lay here for a minute…" She mumbled to herself as her eyes closed.

The sound of Jamie crying through the monitor woke her up sometime later. She recognized it as his fussy cry and she groaned, looking at the clock. 1:04am.

"Only two more days." She grumbled tiredly as she slowly made her way into Jamie's room.

**OTH Quote of the Day: " I know that Keith saved me at the bridge, but Haley saved me long before the accident. There has to be a miracle left for her." - Nathan Scott 4x10**


	2. Chapter 2: Halloween

With her head buried in her readings, Haley almost didn't hear the door close as her husband and her best friend came into the house as quiet as possible. She looked up and smiled at the both of them, closing her book for the night.

She was exhausted, but she found it nearly impossible to sleep without Nathan by her side. "Hey boys," She smiled up at them. "How was practice?"

Lucas shrugged. "We still have a lot of work ahead of us if we want to make it to post season this year. It's like watching a train wreck… Even when Nathan's not playing." He joked, elbowing his brother in the ribs.

Nathan rolled his eyes. "Shut up, Pucas." He muttered, kissing his wife's head. "How was the boy?"

"Went down like a charm, eight o clock sharp. You guys hungry? I made pasta for supper and I left you some leftovers in the fridge." Before she even finished her sentence, they had both bolted, shoving each other out of the way. "Men." Haley muttered to herself.

As they were both shoving food into their mouths, Nathan perked his head up and paused. "Did I just hear…?" He asked before the sound of Jamie wailing filled the air. "Yeah, thought so."

Haley looked at the clock and saw it was a little after eleven. "He's probably hungry, he was fussy before dinner and didn't finish his bottle. Can one of you heat it up for me? I'm going to grab him." She came back bouncing him in her arms. "Hi Mr. James Lucas Scott," she cooed. "Are you a hungry baby?"

"Here Hales," Nathan handed her over a bottle. "Hi Jamie, Daddy missed you today, yes he did."

Haley cradled him in the crook of her arm and tried to feed him, until he started fussing and turning his mouth away, his left hand stretched out to the side, closing and unclosing into a fist. She sighed and rolled her eyes. "He won't eat for me. He never does when you're in the room."

Nathan couldn't help but smirk as she passed Jamie over to him, and he immediately started sucking on his bottle. "Who's your favorite Jamie, huh? Yeah, Daddy is isn't he?" He chuckled.

"Yeah whatever don't rub it in." She muttered, rolling her eyes. "I'm going to take a shower."

Nathan looked at her with his eyebrows raised. "I'll just give Jamie to Luke and I'll be right in."

Both Haley and Lucas muttered "In your dreams," at the same time.

Still smiling, Nathan sat next to his brother on the couch, who was watching a recap of yesterday night's football game. "You doing okay, Luke?" He asked.

Lucas gave him a funny look. "I'm fine, why?"

"No reason I guess. It's just that you haven't really talked about Peyton in a while so I was just making sure everything was still good between the two of you."

Luke looked down at the floor. "She's just been busy, I guess. You know how she got that job at the record label. I'm sure once we both get settled in, everything will go back to normal."

"You miss her?" Nathan asked.

"Every damn day." Lucas sighed, looking over at his nephew and godson. "Especially when I see the three of you. I want that. I've always wanted that."

Nathan smiled at his brother. "You'll get there, man. It just takes time."

"Yeah, sure, because it took you guys what, two years to be married and have a kid?" Lucas joked.

"Okay well maybe we're not the best example." Nathan said, unashamed, as he burped his son.

A few minutes later, Haley came out in her fluffy white robe, wet hair cascading down her back. She held out her arms for her son. "Come on Jame, time for bed." She said in a soothing tone.

"Um, Hales?" Lucas asked. "Do you mind if I put him down? I wouldn't mind spending some time with my nephew."

Haley paused. "Are you sure, Luke? You just had a long practice and a full day of classes, aren't you tired?"

He shrugged. "It's not a big deal Hales, you have a full day of class and tutoring and Nate has a full day of class and basketball and both of you manage to find the energy to put up with this little munchkin. Besides, you're acting like I haven't taken care of him before. You pawn him off on me all the time." He joked.

Haley gasped. "Hey, that is not true! Okay well, maybe it is but it doesn't happen _all_ the time!" Lucas gave her the "I'm joking" face that he always does and she scoffed. "Fine, but if he gives you a hard time just come and get me okay?"

Nathan passed his son over to Lucas and said, "Yeah, but make sure it's at least thirty minutes from now!"

"Nathan!" Haley exclaimed, laughing as he swept her into his arms and started walking towards the bedroom. She peered over his shoulder. "Night Luke! Night Jamie, I love you!"

Lucas cradled his nephew and kissed the top of his head as he headed for his room. "You tired yet buddy?" He asked and his response was a big gurgle and the wiggling of his little feet. "Yeah, that's okay. How about you hang out with Uncle Lucas for a little while?" He sat down in the rocking chair. "You know Jamie, I have a girlfriend named Peyton. Do you remember her?"

The little boy looked up at his uncle with wide eyes and reached for his finger to grasp. "I'm just going to take that as a yes. I'm not surprised I mean she's beautiful and pretty hard to forget. I guess you're probably wondering why you haven't seen her in a while, because I'm wondering the same thing. You see, she got this job at the record label she was dong an internship for in marketing and distribution. Yeah, I'm not really sure what that means either, because she never told me."

"She was supposed to be gone for the summer and then she was supposed to come back, and we were supposed to be together. But then she got a job there, and how was I supposed to tell her that she couldn't take it? Music and producing is her dream and I don't think I could live with being the guy who held her back from all that. But I'll tell you a little secret James Lucas Scott, I miss her more than anything in the world and I would give anything for her to be here with me."

Lucas sighed to himself, unable to shake how he was feeling. "I mean, I love your mom and dad and I love being able to be here with you and watch you grow up but every time I see the three of you together I get this knot in my stomach. I don't think that will ever go away buddy, at least not until she comes back." He glanced down at his nephew and noticed that he was fast asleep, his mouth poised in a perfectly shaped O. Gently, he laid him down in the crib and just looked at him for a minute. "I love you kiddo, and one day, I promise you, Peyton and I are going to be a family just like you and your parents. And you can quote me on that."

He quietly closed the door behind him and went to head to his room, when Haley came out of hers, looking at him sadly. "Luke…" She muttered, throwing her arms around his waist.

He touched his hand to her hair. "You heard all that didn't you?"

She shrugged in his arms. "Baby monitor." She mumbled, pulling away from him. "Don't worry, Nathan fell asleep the minute he hit the sheets, so he won't be able to tease you." She tried to joke, and then she paused. "Are you going to be okay Luke?"

"Hales, don't worry about me." He chuckled. "I love you for it, but you have enough on your plate. Now go, get some sleep okay? Jamie is out like a light and you should take advantage of that."

"Oh, okay." She said, kissing him on the cheek. "Love you Luke."

He watched her go with a sad smile. "Love you too Hales."

* * *

It was about seven in the morning that Jamie woke up with his hungry cry. Haley rolled over and kicked her husband. "You get him." She moaned.

Nathan grunted. "I'm sleeping."

Haley lay there for a moment, trying to open her eyes. "Nathan." She whined. Jamie's cries got louder and Nathan rolled onto his other side. "Come on Nathan, I watched him all evening yesterday plus I got up with him at four. I'm tired." When he didn't answer, she sighed. "Fine, I'll go. But you have to change all of his diapers today. All of them!"

"Mm." He groaned, throwing a pillow over his head.

Haley huffed, walking out of the room and into Jamie's nursery, and lifted him into her arms. "Good morning baby," She cooed as she went to change him out of his wet diaper and his pajamas. "You're hungry aren't you? Well after I change you, I'm going to get you a nice warm bottle, want to know why?" She buttoned up his onesie and put a little pair of track pants over it. "Because Daddy is mean and he doesn't love you enough to get up with you like Mommy does. But that's okay because we're going to get back at him aren't we? I know you've got a talent for making big, messy poops so how about we put that to good work today okay? High five." She grabbed his little hand and pressed it against his.

As she was watching TV and feeding Jamie, Lucas came out looking disheveled. "Hey Luke, you're up early. Did we wake you?"

He shook his head and walked groggily into the kitchen to make coffee. "No, I just couldn't sleep that's all."

"How about we kill Nathan and then you can be my husband instead?" She said and then quickly scrunched up her nose. "Ew, never mind that's gross."

"Couldn't get him out of bed?" Luke asked as he started making something to eat. "Want breakfast?"

Haley sighed. "No, but what else is new? And yes, eggs. But the scrambled kind." She looked down at her son, who was watching her as she fed him and she scrunched her nose up at him. "Gotta be honest kid, I can't wait until you can feed yourself." A couple minutes later after she had burped him and he had spit up down the back of her shirt, she scrunched her nose again. "And burp yourself." She went to put Jamie on his blanket while she got changed, but he started to whimper and he reached his arms towards her in distress. Haley laughed at her son and scooped him up again. "Needy, just like your father." She joked, taking him into her bedroom to get changed.

She stared at her husband who was lying on his stomach, shirtless and snoring, and narrowed her eyes. She put Jamie beside his head on his stomach and stripped off her pajamas, rummaging through her drawers to find something to wear. As she was pulling a clean shirt over her head, she heard Nathan's startled yelp.

She looked back and couldn't help but laugh when she realized that Jamie had spit up in her husband's hair. He sat up in disgust and glared at her. "Not funny Haley."

She shrugged innocently. "Payback for you not getting up with him. Come here baby, lets get you cleaned up while Daddy has a shower." After Nathan had left the room, she smiled down at Jamie. "Nice work kid. A solid start."

* * *

Sometime later, after Jamie had woken up from his late afternoon nap, Nathan knocked on the bedroom door, where Haley was taking her late afternoon nap. "Oh Hales," Nathan called, Jamie in his arms. "Time to wake up, Mommy."

She sat up groggily. "What time is it?"

"Almost five. Luke made an early dinner. I figured you'd want to eat before we went out. Or did you forget what day it was?" He grinned. "You've only been obsessing over this day for weeks."

Fully awake, she clapped her hands together. "It's Jamie's first Halloween!" She exclaimed, jumping out of bed and kissing her son. "Have you fed him yet? Okay, well he needs to eat and so do I so how about you feed him and I'll eat really quick okay?"

"Whatever you want baby." Nathan said, amused. He looked down at Jamie while he prepared the bottle and laughed. "You know, I think she's a little bit too excited considering you probably won't even remember this day."

"Shut up." Haley mumbled through a mouthful of food. She swallowed and gave her husband a nasty look. "The costume that Brooke made him is adorable okay? Besides, you know you're excited too because you're the one who gets to eat the candy afterwards."

Nathan kissed his wife on the lips. "I'm joking Hales. Except that whole candy thing is totally true."

"Better be." She muttered. Nathan fed Jamie while Haley ate and then after he was burped and ready, she took him to get changed. "You are going to look so cute."

When she brought him out dressed up in a long white sleeve shirt, black and blue track suit, a blue Nike headband and a Raven's jersey with the number 23 on it, Nathan couldn't help but see his son's future. "I can't wait to see you play for the Ravens for real, bud." He said to Jamie as he took him from his wife to strap him into his stroller. "I'm going to be on the sidelines cheering for you every game okay buddy? And I promise I won't pressure you like my dad did." Jamie responded with a toothless grin and Nathan kissed his nose. "All ready, Hales?"

She grabbed the little pumpkin shaped basket from off the table and threw on her jacket. "I'm ready!" She raced over with her camera and snapped a picture of Jaime in his stroller, and then one of Nathan and Jamie together. Nathan rolled his eyes and she slapped him on the shoulder. "Did you really think I wasn't going to take pictures?"

"I should have known better." He laughed, kissing her on the head.

"Bye Luke!" She called to her brother-in-law who was studying in his room. "We'll be back in a bit!" And the door closed behind them.

Less than forty minutes later, the door opened as they came back, Nathan holding a screaming Jamie. Luke popped his head out of his room in concern. "Is he okay?"

Nathan was smiling, so he knew he wasn't hurt. "He saw a clown and got freaked out. We couldn't calm him down so we just decided to call it quits."

"Where's Haley?"

"Putting the stroller away. And to be honest, she's probably barricading the house. She hates clowns probably more than Jamie does." Nathan laughed as he rubbed Jamie's back and bounced him around the room. "It's okay Jamie, it's okay. Daddy's here and you're safe okay? I promise."

Haley came in soon after, shutting the door behind her and dead bolting it. She looked at her husband and shuddered. "God, I hate clowns."

Nathan, unabashedly amused, wrapped her in his arms tight. "I'm not going to let the big old scary clown hurt you or Jamie." He kissed her head and squeezed her tighter.

"I love you, Nathan Scott." She mumbled.

"Bah!" Jamie chimed in from the floor, where he was laying on his back, dangling Lucas's car keys above his face.

The new parents smiled as they joined their four-month-old son on the floor. "What is that Jamie?" Haley gasped, jangling. "What have you got?"

Lucas stood and watched from his doorway for a moment, and then he quietly shut the door.

**OTH Quote of the Day: "Do you see this book? Because this book is me, I am math. It means you can work your whole "I'm Nathan Scott, Mr. Big Shot, scoring my touchdowns" on somebody else, because at the end of the day all your bluster and B.S don't mean anything to math, because math don't care and neither do I." – Haley James (soon to be Scott) 1x03**


	3. Chapter 3: For Granted

**A/N: Thanks for all of the support and reviews that I've gotten. I'm so glad that people still read One Tree Hill fan fiction, considering it's the greatest show on the planet (still.)**

This was the greatest feeling in the world for Nathan, next to being at home with his wife and son. The feeling of the ball beneath his hand and the sweet sound that it made after he released it and it went straight into the net with a resounding _swish_.

Even though it was just practice, he couldn't help but smile to himself as his eighth three pointer in a row went through the net. "Damn Nate," his teammate Ron said, pushing him against the shoulder. "Calm down and let some other people get the ball in, you hot shot."

Nathan just laughed. "Not my fault you suck, Cooper." He teased back. His team always ribbed him, albeit good naturedly, but they knew that he was the best thing that happened to the team.

"Yeah man, whatever." He said as Whitey blew the whistle.

"Alright team, that's it for practice tonight! Hit the showers and I'll see you all Monday morning, 7am sharp. Have a nice weekend." Whitey said, dismissing them. It was weird for Nathan to be at practice without Lucas riding his ass about trying the fade away, but he was glad that his brother had taken off for the weekend to go see Peyton. He didn't know if he could survive without Haley.

As he was coming out of the shower in his basketball shorts, shaking his wet hair with his towel, a couple of his friends and teammates approached him. "Hey man, get dressed! We going to a paaaar-tay!" Devon shouted.

"Yeah man, plus they're supplying the alcohol. Free booze and hot chicks? I'm totally in." Ron agreed, high fiving his friend. Then, he turned to Nathan. "You in, married man?"

Nathan shrugged, looking at the clock on the wall, seeing that it was almost ten. "Nah, probably not. I've been in class all afternoon, plus with basketball practice Haley's been by herself with Jamie. I should probably get home."

"Man, come on!" The third teammate Ricky exclaimed. "We never see you outside of practice or games, man. We get that you have a family, but you need to have time for your friends too. Just say practice ran late and come for just an hour."

Nathan was still hesitant, but he felt bad because he always declined their offers. "Fine, I'll come for one beer. But I don't have my car, so you're paying for my cab ride home."

"Deal my brother." Ron said, slapping him a high five. "Let's get this show on the road."

Considering Nathan had been in college for almost three months, he had never actually been to a college house party before. Normally between school, homework, basketball and Jamie, he didn't have any free time. He was still a little skeptical, but seeing everyone relaxing and having a good time put his mind a little bit at ease.

He grabbed a beer off the table and met up with his friends, determined to have a good time. "Just one beer." He reminded himself.

Nathan wasn't sure when that one beer turned into ten or eleven, and he also wasn't sure how he ended up on the dance floor with some brunette grinding on him, but he was pretty sure it had something to do with peer pressure.

The girl had a drink in one hand and she was dressed in pretty skimpy clothing and he was pretty sure her name started with an A. Ashley? No, Audrey? "My name is Aubrey." The girl suddenly spoke.

Nathan gave her a confused look. "What?"

"You were talking out loud. My name isn't Ashley or Audrey, It's Au_brey_." She laughed and put her hand on his arm. "You're pretty wasted aren't you?"

He shrugged. "I was only supposed to have one beer!" He yelled over the music that had suddenly gotten louder.

"Well obviously you've had more than one, or else you're just a lightweight."

She was flirting with him, clearly, but he wasn't interested. He frantically searched his pockets for his phone and then sighed irritably. He must have left it in his gym locker. "What time is it?" He asked her.

She glanced at her cell phone. "A little after one, why?"

His eyes nearly popped out of his head and he got sober pretty quick. "Shit!" And he turned to make his way out of the crowd. He heard her calling behind him but he kept walking until he found one of his friends. "I need to borrow your phone and some money for a cab, man."

"Yeah sure thing." Ron said, clearly not as drunk as Nathan was. "You alright?"

"I'm just really, really late." He muttered. "Hi, yeah, can I get a cab to …"

* * *

Haley was worried. Her son almost had a fever of 102 degrees and her husband was nowhere to be found and wasn't answering his cell and it was already one thirty. She was pretty sure practice should have been over at ten, eleven at the latest.

She tried his cell one more time and when she got the voicemail again, she put the phone down in frustration and kissed the top of Jamie's head. "Shh, you're going to be okay baby." She whispered softly in his ear as he whimpered, rocking him side to side.

Haley felt his pain. He was cranky, tired and fussy, exactly the same as she felt. He hadn't slept since he woke up from his nap when she got back from school, and that was at two, so it had almost been twelve hours. "Come on Jamie, Mommy's going to give you a bath and make everything better."

Jamie's favorite time of the day was bath time, so while Haley was gently washing him with the warm water, he was silent, staring up at her with red-rimmed eyes. After he was dry and in his pajamas, she heard the door close. "Nathan?" She called out, rushing out of the bathroom. He stood in the doorway, fumbling to get his shoes off. "Where have you been? What happened to your phone?" She asked.

"I left it in my locker." He mumbled.

She peered at him, suspicious when Jamie reached out for him and Nathan didn't immediately take him. "What's wrong…?" As she caught a glimpse of his hazy eyes, she glared. "Are you drunk?"

"Haley…"

"You've got to be kidding me!" She exclaimed.

Nathan narrowed his eyes at her. "What? So I went out and got drunk. It's Friday night and I'm a freshman in college. What's the big deal?"

"The big deal is that you have a wife and a son at home, who were extremely worried about you when you didn't come home! _That_ is the big deal!"

"Jesus Christ, Haley. I went out one time! It's not like I asked to be stuck at home all the time with a kid."

Haley went into a stunned silence for a minute. "You think I asked for this? You think you're the only one who stays home with him? When do I _ever_ go out other than school? Who takes care of Jamie when you have basketball practice almost every day after school, huh? That's pretty selfish of you to say, Nathan. If we're such a damn burden to you, you can just walk out the door right now!" She exclaimed, storming off with Jamie who was now bawling. "And by the way, your son had a fever of 102 degrees while you were out partying." And then she slammed the door to the nursery shut.

Nathan laid in Lucas' bed for hours, wondering what had gotten into him and how he could have said such spiteful words to the love of his life. After a good few hours of tossing and turning, he couldn't take it anymore. He crept out of the room and into his bedroom, only to find the bed empty.

Instead he found her sitting on the couch with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders, staring at the blank screen of the TV. "Hales…" He said, sitting down next to her. She jerked away when he touched her, which made him flinch. "Baby, I'm sorry."

"Don't." She said hollowly, turning away from him.

"Haley please…"

"How could you say those mean things about me? About your son, who loves you so much?" She asked him. "How could you?"

Nathan couldn't come up with an answer that would make this all go away. "I didn't mean it."

"Yes you did."

"Haley, no I didn't."

She turned to him angrily. "Yes, you did! If you didn't mean it, why would you say it!? If there was not a single shred of truth to what you said, why would you say it?"

He ran his hands over his face. "Because I'm an idiot."

"Well at least there's something we can both agree on." She muttered. "And I'm an idiot too. For thinking that you could handle this."

He couldn't believe what she was saying. "That's not true and you know it. I love Jamie and I love you."

"You resent us!" She cried. "Ever since I told you I was pregnant when you got that scholarship, you've resented us!"

"That's not true!" He yelled back, louder than her, hoping that she would understand the words that were coming out of his mouth.

Both of their screaming woke up Jamie, who starting screeching uncontrollably in the other room. Nathan immediately stood up, but Haley locked her hand tightly around his wrist. "I got him. I wouldn't want him to be a burden or anything." She said tightly. Before she walked away, she turned towards him one last time. "You said the words, Nathan. And now you can't take them back."

Nathan had never felt so sick in his life. So he did the only thing he could think of, he called Lucas. "I screwed up, man." He told his older brother after he sleepily picked up the phone. "I screwed up bad, and I don't know how to fix it."

"You're a fucking moron." Was all Lucas could say after Nathan had finished telling him everything.

"I know, man."

"God you're a fucking moron." He muttered again. "How the hell did you convince Haley to marry you twice?"

Nathan sighed. "If you're just going to call me names and not help me, I'm just going to hang up."

"Wait, wait, sorry." Lucas interrupted and then paused. "Fucking moron. Okay, I'm done now I swear. But seriously Nate, I don't know if there's anything I can do to help you right now. Haley will forgive you, she loves you, but right now she's hurting. Just make sure you continuously let her know that you love her, by telling her and showing her. And if that fails, I'll be back Sunday night to pick up the pieces and save the day, as usual."

Nathan rolled his eyes. "You're a real superhero Luke." He said sarcastically. "But thanks, I'll see you in a few days. Tell Peyton I said hey."

After he hung up, he looked over at his clock and saw that it was almost four thirty. She had heard Haley go into their room about forty minutes ago, so he figured she was sleeping by now. He quietly crept through the door and went to her nightstand to grab the handheld monitor. When he stopped to look at her, his heart skipped a beat. She looked beautiful when she slept, hair fanned out against the pillow even though he could tell from the little bit of moonlight illuminating her face that she had been crying.

He planted a kiss on the corner of her eye sadly, and closed the door behind him gently. He placed the monitor beside his head and dozed off, hoping to get a couple hours of sleep in before Jamie got up.

* * *

Fortunately, because he had a late night, Jamie slept until eight, which was later than his normal six thirty, seven am routine. Unfortunately for Nathan, that still meant he only got three and a half hours of sleep to get him through his day of hard work and grovelling.

Even more so, Jamie still wasn't feeling well, so he was as cranky as ever. He knew that whenever he wasn't feeling good or was cranky or unable to sleep, Haley always gave him a bath, so that's just what Nathan did. His cries quiet and his fascination with his little rubber ducky that he loved grew, especially as Nathan squeaked it for him. He even managed to get a few smiles and even a laugh out of him.

After he was dry, changed and dressed for the day, Nathan took him into the kitchen and put him in his high chair and started rummaging through the fridge to find the applesauce that they had introduced Jamie to earlier that week.

As Nathan prepped, Jamie whined, banging his hands on the highchair irritably. "Shh, buddy. We don't want to wake up Mommy okay? She needs her rest." Nathan whispered as he brought over the bowl and his little plastic spoon over. "Are you ready for some applesauce Jimmy Jam?" He scooped a little on to the end of the spoon. "Nathan Scott steals the ball and dribbles down the court. He's wide open behind the line, and he goes in for the shot…" He swished the spoon into Jamie's mouth and pulled it out slowly. "And he makes the shot to win the game! The Tree Hill Ravens are champions again!" And then Jamie spit the food out across Nathan's face and started to cry. "Okay, apparently we are not champions." He muttered, wiping off his face with his sleeve and scooping up his son. "And apparently cranky Jamie isn't in the mood for solid foods. Lets try a bottle instead huh?"

He ate happily from the bottle, and Nathan felt relieved to see that he was eating, which meant he felt better. Jamie was notorious for starving himself when he wasn't feeling well. By touching his forehead, Nathan could see that his skin was starting to cool down also.

After he was sufficiently full and seemingly content, Nathan placed him in his high chair, gave him his plastic keys, a wooden spoon a couple other toys and begged his son, who looked like he was getting ready to bawl, to just play with his toys for ten minutes while Nathan made breakfast. After he managed to distract him by banging the spoon off of his high chair, he turned to the stove. He had planned to make Haley pancakes from scratch, but Jamie had other plans for him. "Pancake mix it is." He muttered, pouring in into a bowl with all the ingredients and mixing it.

Nathan smiled when he was finished, placing a separate plate for himself off to the side and starting fixing up Haley's plate. He was no five star chef, but at least he knew he could make instant pancakes. After stacking them on a plate with butter, layering them with syrup, pouring a glass of orange juice and placing a small flower in a vase and putting everything onto a tray, he snuck into their room and placed it on his wife's nightstand.

He debated on waking her so she could eat, but it was already ten and he saw her still cuddled up in her blankets, not even stirring and he knew that she desperately needed the extra rest and he let her be. She could eat it when she woke up.

He closed the door again and went back into the kitchen, where his son was quickly tiring of the toys in front of him and desperate for his dad's attention. Nathan brought him into the living room to play, knowing that he would go down for his nap soon. Or at least he hoped, because he was exhausted.

Two hours later, after his bottle, he finally dozed off. But that was after Nathan had to deal with two messy diapers and a spit up accident. Now that they had introduced him to solid foods, his diapers were getting stinkier and more frequent and there was nothing Nathan hated more than being on diaper duty. Both times he had almost woken Haley up but he promised himself that he would man up and get through it, considering she did it on a regular basis.

Nathan put him down in his crib gently, happy that he went down easily and without a fuss today and then went out to clean up Jamie's toys and the mess he had made in the kitchen. When he realized it was almost twelve thirty, he sighed and went to achieve the cold, soggy pancakes and lukewarm juice from their room to throw out. And as he was doing those dishes, Haley stumbled out of the room with squinted eyes. "What time is it?" She mumbled.

He had unplugged her alarm clock this morning, just in case she stirred and woke up in a panic after seeing the time. "Just about twelve thirty." He replied.

Her eyes widened in panic. "What? Where's Jamie? Has he slept this long too?"

"No, I got up with him at eight. I took the monitor out of your room so you could sleep in. We also made you breakfast in bed, but it got cold because I didn't want to wake you up to eat it. I just put him down for his nap if you want to go back to sleep."

Haley looked at the floor. "No, I'm fine." She muttered, going to sit on the couch.

Nathan sighed, drying his hands on the dishtowel and following her over. 'Haley, I need to talk to you." He said as he sat down next to her. She still shrugged off his touch, but it was more out of lingering anger than the rage that she had last night. "I spent all last night and this morning thinking that I wanted to do something special for you, and how I wanted to tell you how much I love you and appreciate you. But after spending only four and a half hours watching Jamie and cooking and cleaning, I finally realize that there is absolutely nothing that I can say or do that will accomplish that."

"Nathan…"

"I finally realized today how hard you work every single day to get good grades and take care of the house and make sure that Jamie is well taken care of and well loved, and me as well. And after today, Haley James Scott, I now love and appreciate you even more than I already did and I promise on everything that I will never, ever take you for granted again."

Nathan reached over and wiped a single tear that had fallen from Haley's cheek. "God damn you, Nathan!" She exclaimed half-heartedly. "I wake up determined to be mad at you, and then you have to go and say something like that!"

And then she was kissing his mouth and he was so happy to have her in his arms and feel her body through her thin white pajama t-shirt. "I love you so goddamn much, Haley." He mumbled through their kisses.

And he really, truly did.

**OTH Quote of the day: "Okay, listen sister. I joined cheerleading, and I stayed in this stupid draft because of who? You. Now I am this close to getting an actual date with Nathan, so if you don't suck it up and go out with Chris Keller, I swear the only pus-infected sores you're going to be licking are your own when I get through with you, do you get it?" – Haley James Scott 3x07**


	4. The Banquet

The first thing Haley heard when she got out of the shower was Nathan talking to Jamie from the living room. Curious, she tied up her robe and shook out her hair, stepping out of the steamy bathroom and down the hall to where Nathan was bouncing their son on his legs and watching what seemed to be a home video on TV.

"This is our second wedding though, Jamie. And at this time, Mommy was pregnant with you but she didn't know it yet. And then she kept it a secret for me and let everyone think that Aunt Brooke was pregnant instead. Wasn't she mean?" He cooed, running a hand over the seven-month-olds head of blonde hair that was sticking up in a tuff.

Haley scoffed, coming to sit on the arm of the couch. "Well, you slept with Aunt Brooke and never told me. So how's that for mean?" And then she slapped him on the back of the head.

Jamie grinned as she did that, showing off his two new teeth and said, "Bah!"

"Would it help if I said you looked extremely beautiful?" Nathan murmured, kissing his wife on the shoulder. "In the video and right now. I would so yank that robe off of you…"

"Nathan!" Haley exclaimed, laughing at the same time that Lucas walked in and said "Oh god."

Walking past them into the kitchen, he mumbles, "I'll never get used to that."

Haley shot Nathan a look, to which he shrugged innocently and said, "What?"

"You're too much." She laughed, reaching over to snatch up Jamie. "Nap time for mister monkey right here. Say goodnight to Daddy." She stretched out her arm and waved, which Jamie attempted to imitate by opening and closing his hand.

Nathan stood up and kissed him on the head. "Night little buddy." And then he kissed his wife on the cheek and turned to head into the kitchen. "Oh babe, don't forget about the award ceremony and dinner tonight."

She stopped in her tracks, turning to face him. "Nathan, I really want to go but since Luke and Whitey are both going to the dinner tonight and Deb is working, there's no one to watch Jamie. I'll have to stay home with him."

"Why don't you just bring him?" Lucas shouted from the kitchen, sounding like he had a mouthful of food.

"I don't know…" Haley trailed off, looking down at her baby who had quickly dosed off. "We don't want to bother you."

Nathan raised his eyebrows. "Bother me? Hales, you and Jamie are the best and most important part of my life. Not only do I want to show off my beautiful wife…" He mumbled against her lips as he kissed her softly. "But I would be honored to show off my adorable son, especially because they've only seen him in pictures. Besides, we know Jamie is normally well behaved and Luke and Whitey will be there too, like you said. Between the four of us, I think we can manage."

Haley nodded. "Okay, you're right. We'll bring him." She smiled down and kissed the top of his head. "I'm going to go put him down and then maybe you can come help me decide what to wear?"

He trailed behind her, smiling in good spirit. "I don't know if I'll be much help, Hales. If it were up to me, you'd go naked."

"Oh _god_." Lucas muttered again, as he walked by them.

Haley tried to control her giggles as Nathan said, "Hey, it's not my fault you walk by at the worst times."

"Why did I agree to move in here again?" Lucas teased, only half kidding as he shut the door to his bedroom.

* * *

A couple hours later, Nathan was sitting on his bed, amused, watching his wife tear through everything in her closet. He looked down at Jamie, who was playing on the bed next to him with all of the discarded dresses that Haley had thrown towards them. He smiled, this moment reminding him of the time that she was trying to find a prom dress during the middle of her pregnancy with their little guy.

After watching for a few more minutes, he got up and took her face in his hands. "Hales, just relax. You are going to be the best looking girl there, no matter what you're wearing." He kissed her on the forehead. "But, if it helps…" He trailed off, reaching into her closet and pulling out a silky navy blue dress. "I would love to see you in this."

She took the dress from him, giving him a half smile, half pout. "What would I do without you?"

"I ask myself that question everyday. What _would_ you do without me?" He laughed and expertly ducked out of the way of the swing that he knew was coming, and grabbed Jamie. "Come on Jimmy Jam, let's leave Mommy to get ready and go get you nice and clean."

Haley held the dress up against her in the mirror and smiled, before going into her closet and picking out a pair of black heels that made her look taller next to Nathan, but that she would still be able to walk and carry Jamie without falling on her ass. She curled her hair loosely, pulled it back with a black headband and put on some light makeup.

After she was made up and dressed, she made her way into the living room to find the men in classic black tuxes, and Jamie playing on the floor in a navy blue cardigan, khakis and converse. She couldn't help but aw as she went over and sat down next to her son on the floor. "Nathan!" She said in awe. "Where did he get this?"

He shrugged. "Beats me, I just found it. I bet my mom bought it for him and shoved it in the drawer when she was babysitting. You know how she loves to do that."

There was a knock at the door just at that moment and Haley grabbed Jamie off the floor as she went to answer it. She knew it was probably Whitey, and she knew how much Jamie adored him. Sure enough when she answered the door, his arms immediately stretched out for Whitey and Whitey immediately took him out of Haley's arms.

"Well, well," He said to Haley. "If it isn't Avril Lavigne."

Haley rolled her eyes as she went to go grab her purse and shoes. "I'm hardly Avril Lavigne anymore, Coach." But she smiled good-naturedly as she went through her bag. Diapers, wipes, bottles, a few toys, his favorite bear and… She turned towards her husband. "Where's his pacifier?"

Nathan shrugged. "I have no clue." When he looked up and saw his wife's narrowed eyes, he jumped up. "I'll go find it."

Once he had finally found it and she checked her bag again, they were ready to go. Haley sat in the back with Luke and Jamie, who babbled away the entire ride, while Nathan chatted up front from the driver's seat with his coach.

When Haley got out of the car, she could feel the stares on her back when she pulled Jamie out of the car. Everyone knew about their high school marriage and pregnancy, especially because of the small university and the fact that everyone knew who Nathan was, the guy who was going to bring the basketball team to fame. But Haley was still nervous, because up until now she had never met anyone on the team. Between class, homework, tutoring and Jamie, she had never had the chance and frankly, she had never wanted to.

She had basically reverted back into her old, pre-Nathan high school self when it came to meeting new people. Her old fear of being judged bubbled straight to the surface and she self-consciously held Jamie a little closer to her body.

Nathan, feeling her nerves, came over and squeezed her hand. "It's okay baby, just breathe. They're going to love you."

She stood up straight, hoisting Jamie higher up on her hip and still holding her husband's hand, and they trailed behind Luke and Whitey, who were chatting about basketball plays. As they walked into the hall, Nathan was surrounded by his teammates.

"Yo dude! What's up, playa?" Said a guy who reminded Haley a lot of Skills. After they did their man hug, he turned towards her. "Damn, Nate. I completely understand now. If I went home to that every night, I wouldn't want to come out either!"

The other two guys next to him laughed. Nathan let go over her hand and pulled her into his side. "Knock it off guys. This is my wife Haley and my son Jamie. Hales, these are my friends Devon, Ricky and Ron. Unfortunately they don't know how to behave like proper gentlemen."

"Oh stop." Haley laughed nervously, elbowing him. "It's very nice to meet you." She said, reaching out and shaking their hands. "Can you wave hi, Jamie?" She imitated his wave, but instead of waving like he usually does, he whimpers and reaches out for Nathan.

He immediately takes him, and Jamie buries his face into his shoulder. "Stranger anxiety, sorry guys." He reaches for Haley's hand again and starts to lead her away. "We should probably go find our table now Hales. See you guys in a bit." They all nod and he leads her away. "See, was that so horrible?"

She smiles, trying to hide her blush. "Devon really makes me miss Skills. When do we play him?"

"Two weeks, baby. I'm sure he'll be happy to see you." He smiles as they get settled, Jamie happily playing with one of his toys. After a while, he got bored and went over to sit with Lucas. As Whitey stepped up to the podium and starting talking, Nathan stood up and leaned over to whisper in his wife's ear. "I'm just going to go to the _bathroom_."

When he walked away, she waited a minute and turned towards Luke. "Can you watch him for a minute? I'm going to run to the bathroom." He nodded, completely oblivious to what was really going on, and she tiptoed away from the table and opened the door to the men's bathroom. "Nathan!" She whispered-squealed as he spun her around and kissed her. "What are you doing?"

"I'm sorry," he whispered harshly, kissing her neck as he backed her into one of the stalls. "But you just look so sexy in that dress. I had to have you." He went back to kissing her as she began to un-tuck his shirt from his pants, and then he lifted her up and pressed her against the stall.

He began to run his hand up her dress and then they heard the bathroom door open and they both froze. "Nathan, Haley!" It was Lucas. "I know you're in here, so don't even try to hide." Nathan put Haley back on her feet and opened the stall door. "What the hell are you doing!?" He half yelled, Jamie in his arms. "Whitey just called your name to give you the rookie of the year award!"

"Shit!" Nathan cursed, rushing out of the door while trying to tuck in his shirt and straighten his jacket at the same time. Haley came out of the stall, pushing her headband back in to fix her hair and quickly reapplied her lipstick. She rushed past Lucas, who gave her a disapproving look and ran out into the hall just in time to clap with the rest of them as Whitey recalled his name and he stepped up to get his award.

As he stepped up to the podium, his teammates immediately started laughing. "Yo Nate, you still got a little lipstick on your face there!" Devon shouted between his laughter. "What have you been up to?"

All Nathan said was, "Have you seen my wife?" And then entire room broke into applause and laughter. Haley sunk down into her seat, mortified as everyone looked over at her. "All jokes aside, basketball wouldn't even have been possible without the support of my wife, who supports me and does an amazing job raising my son. I also want to thank my brother Lucas for helping us out and for being an amazing assistant coach. But mostly, I want to thank my coach Whitey Durham for making it even possible for me to be playing basketball right now. He has been with me since my freshman year of high school even when I was a complete asswipe- sorry Jamie. None of this would have been possible without him, so let's all give it up for Coach Durham."

He stepped away from the podium to hug Whitey, who couldn't have been more proud, and then he walked back to his seat through the thunderous applause and sat down next to his wife, who had stopped hiding and who was holding their sleeping son in her lap and kissed her on the side of the head. "I'm so proud of you, baby." She whispered. "We both are."

"I meant what I said. Thank you for everything. I love you, Hales."

He leaned over to kiss her on the lips, and then he kissed the top of Jamie's head. "I love you too Nathan Scott." She murmured.

"Get a room!" Ricky called from the table beside them, causing everyone to break into laugher again and Haley to bury her face into Nathan's shoulder, who was also shaking with laughter.

* * *

Back at home, with Jamie tucked into bed, the three of them sat around the TV together in their pajamas, watching the highlights of one of the games that they had missed that night. Haley was curled up in Nathan's side, with her feet in Lucas' lap, smiling sleepily at something they were arguing about. "I love you guys." She murmured sleepily as her eyes started to close.

"Love you too, Hales." Luke said, patting her foot. He looked over at his brother. "So we play Skills in two weeks, and I do believe Peyton is going to try and come down for the weekend."

Nathan smiled. "That's great Luke. I know Haley will be happy to see both of them."

"I'm going to head to bed, I'll see you in the morning bro." Luke said, heading into his room.

Nathan looked down at his wife, debating on whether he should carry her to bed and then decided against it. He ran his fingers through her hair as she slept in his lap, feeling amazingly content with his life.

When Jamie started to cry from his room, he slowly slid Haley's head off of his lap and crept into his room to grab him and get a bottle for him.

Okay, maybe he could do without Jamie waking up in the middle of the night. But they'll work on that.

**OTH Quote of the day: "There's no shame in being afraid. Hell, we're all afraid. What you gotta do is figure out what you're afraid of because when you put a face on it you can beat it. Better yet, you can use it." - Coach Whitey Durham, 1x02**


End file.
